In This Section

Notary Public

A Notary Public is a public officer whose function it is:

To attend and certify, by his signature and official seal, certain classes of documents, in order to give them credit and authenticity; and

To take acknowledgments of deeds and other conveyances and certify the same; and

To perform certain official acts, chiefly in commercial matters, such as the protesting of notes and bills, the notice of foreign drafts, and marine protests in cases of damage.

Requirements to be appointed a notary public in Jefferson County

Must be a resident of Jefferson County; and

Must be capable of posting bond in the required amount, which is $25,000.

Types of Notaries

Effective January 1, 2012, all new notaries appointed in Alabama are State-at-Large. If you are currently appointed as a County notary, you are not now considered State-at-Large, but will be appointed as such when you re-apply.

Steps to be appointed a notary

Complete notary public application;

Submit application to Judge of Probate;

Probate Judge will send applicant an appointment letter;

Applicant must take appointment letter to an insurance company to obtain a notary public bond in the sum of $25,000.00;

Bond and $42.00 filing fee must be sent to the Judge of Probate within 40 days of the date of the letter of appointment.

Please Remember!

The office of Notary Public is a serious and responsible public office and should not be taken lightly. Abuse of the office or irresponsibility in the performance of notarial duties can result in grave consequences. If a Notary Public has doubts about the propriety of any action, he or she should seek competent professional advice before he or she acts.

Please complete the form and mail it (with self-addressed stamped envelope)to the correct division:

Bessemer Division

You will need to have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to download and print the Notary Application. You probably already have this software but if you don’t, you can get it for free by clicking the icon below:

For more information about Notary Public, you may want to purchase the handbook, A Manual for Notaries Public, published by the Young Lawyers Section of the Alabama State Bar which is available as a downloadable pdf. The cost of the manual is $5.45 and may be obtained by clicking on the link below.